Subtraction
by MalibuBarbie253
Summary: Brucas. Future fic. With kids! Read and Review!
1. Memories

Disclaimer: Too bad I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did though…man. It'd Be heaven. Karah and Brenna are all mine though.

"Karah, sweetie, where are you?" Brooke Scott called out to her daughter.

"Right here mommy." Karah Mackenzie trudged into the hall, her small face tear stained, eyes red and puffy.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Brooke asked, squatting so she was at the same level as the four-year-old.

"Bambi's mommy died!" She chocked out, hysterics taking over once more.

"Sweetie, it's just a movie. It's all make believe. Like your fairytale books." Brooke said.

"Okay." Karah sniffled.

"Now where is your sister?" She asked.

"I don't know." Karah answered.

"Brenna!" Brooke called. No answer.

"I'll go find her mommy." Karah said.

"Thanks Care Bear." Brooke said, calling her daughter by her nick name.

Brenna and Karah were fraternal twins. They were complete opposites. Karah had wispy straight blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Brenna had Brooke's dark curly hair with a hint of red to it, and green eyes. Karah was the bubbly twin, with an obsession with Disney anything. Brenna kept to herself more often, and like Lucas, never showed emotion. Karah had multiple friends at school, while Brenna claimed that her best friend was the stuffed hippopotamus that she had received when she turned two.

"Hey honey. Where were you?" Brooke asked, seeing Brenna walk in from the backyard.

"Outside." Brenna replied, sitting on a barstool and taking a chocolate chip cookie from the dish on the counter. She set her hippopotamus on the chair next to her.

"How is your hippo today?" Brooke asked, standing on the other side of the counter.

"Her name is Michelle." Brenna said, placing a cookie in front of 'Michelle'.

"Well, Michelle doesn't look like she wants a cookie right now, so how about we put that one back on the dish and keep the counter clean?" Brooke proposed, picking up the cookie and setting it back in the dish.

"Okay. We're going to go up to my room." Brenna hopped down from her stool, grabbed her hippo, and meandered out of the kitchen.

Brooke sighed. At her second birthday party, Brenna's best friend Michelle had given her that hippo as a present. Leaving the party, Michelle and her parents were hit by a drunk driver and killed. Brenna had never been the same since. And she had never let that stuffed hippo out of her sight.

She picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" He picked up after three rings.

"Hey Luke. Where are you?" She asked.

"I'll be home in about half an hour." Lucas answered.

"We've got to do something about Brenna." Brooke said.

"Why?" He asked.

"Lucas, we are raising an Emo kid! I swear! At this rate, Brenna is going to grow up, dye her hair black, have eleven body piercing, draw guns on her binders, and hang out with the depressed anti-social group of kids that smoke behind the apartments by their school." Brooke said.

"Honey, calm down. It's just a stage. I'm sure she'll get over it." Lucas said.

"I know, but I worry about her. She barely even talks to me. You know there's a problem when your child talks more to her stuffed hippo then to her own mother." Brooke replied.

"It will be just fine. I'll be home in a little bit." Lucas reassured her.

"Okay. I love you." Brooke said.

"Love you too." At that, the two hung up the phone.

"Mommy?" Brooke spun around to find Brenna standing in the living room. She was Michelle free, which rarely ever happened.

"Yes sweetie?" Brooke asked.

"I remember." Brenna stated, simply.

"You remember what sweetheart?" Brooke asked again, wondering what the little girl could be talking about.

"Andrew."

Ha! Read and Review please! Sorry it's kind of short. The next chapter will be here soon.


	2. Answers

Disclaimer: Too bad I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did though…man. It'd be heaven.

Just for the record…this story takes place in 2010, when Brooke and Lucas are 25.

"_I remember." Brenna stated, simply._

"_You remember what sweetheart?" Brooke asked again, wondering what the little girl could be talking about._

"_Andrew."_

"Who's Andrew, Brenna?" Brooke asked, feigning innocence. Her palms were now sweaty and she felt like if she didn't sit down, she might collapse from shaking so hard.

"I don't know. I just remember a little boy. His name was Andrew. Karah and I used to play with him." Brenna said.

"You don't remember anything else?" Brooke asked, taking a seat on the couch and motioning for Brenna to join her. Brenna walked over and plopped onto the sofa next to her mother.

"No." Brooke just nodded her head. "Mommy, how come we don't play with Andrew anymore?"

"Sweetie, come with me." Brooke stood up and grabbed Brenna's hand. The two made their way upstairs to the massive bedroom that Brooke shared with Lucas. She lifted the little girl and set her on the bed, and turned to the closet to retrieve something. When she emerged, she carried several photo albums.

"Pictures!" Brenna squealed.

"Yeah. Pictures. Where's your sister? She should see this too." Brooke said.

"Karah?" Brenna called.

Lucas walked into the bedroom with Karah in his arms.

"What are we doing?" He asked, setting Karah on the bed.

"Brenna asked about Andrew." Brooke said softly. "I think it's time that they know."

Lucas froze. His face looked like that of someone who had just seen a ghost.

"What's wrong daddy?" Karah asked.

"Nothing sweetheart." Lucas replied, jumping onto the bed with his family and kissing his wife on the forehead. She gave him a sad smile.

Brooke opened the first photo album. The pages were filled with pictures of their family, from Christmas, Easter, and several other different occasions.

"Mommy, is that Andrew?" Brenna asked, pointing to a picture of herself, Karah and another little boy.

"Yeah." Brooke replied, gently touching the little boy's face with her fingertips. "That's Andrew."

"Where is he now?" Brenna asked, looking up at her mom, who had tears in her eyes. Lucas wiped her tears away with his thumb, as Brooke leaned back against Lucas for support.

"We'll show you. Let's go for a drive, girls." Lucas said. Brooke looked up at Lucas, eyes filled with uncertainty.

"They deserve to know." Lucas said. Brooke nodded her head.

Brenna ran towards her room, and emerged with her hippo.

"Brenna, honey, no hippo…" Lucas said, but was cut off by Brooke.

"Lucas, she may need it. We don't know how they're going to take it." She reasoned.

"Okay. Hippo can come." Brenna gave a slight smile.

The girls were buckled up in the backseat of their parents' Mercedes Benz. Their cute little pink car seats matched. Lucas got in the drivers seat and Brooke got in on the passenger side.

"Top down, Daddy!" Karah laughed.

"Alright, Care Bear." Lucas pressed a button and the top on the blue Mercedes immediately drew back. Brooke turned on the radio and they were off.

Most of the car ride was silent, except for Karah's constant chatter in the backseat, to no one in particular.

"Mommy, where are we going?" Brenna asked.

"We're going to see Andrew." Brooke answered. Lucas squeezed Brookes hand as they entered the gates of Fir Lane Funeral Home.

"This is a cemetery." Karah said, disgustedly.

"Yeah, Care Bear, it is." Brooke said.

Lucas parked the car and they all got out. Brooke carried Brenna and Lucas carried Karah. They stopped at a grave decorated with gorgeous orange and white Dahlia's. A few children's toys lined the edge of the tombstone.

"What does it say?" Brenna asked, stooping down to get a better look.

"It says, Andrew Benjamin Scott. May 3, 2006 to June 13, 2008. Loving Son, Loving Brother. You will be missed." Lucas read aloud.

"Is he…" Brenna asked, afraid to finish her question.

"Yes, he died." Brooke said, wiping tears out of her face.

"Like Bambi's Mommy?" Karah shrieked.

"Kind of, Care Bear, yeah. Except for he didn't get shot or anything like that. He died peacefully." Brooke explained.

"What happened?" Brenna asked, wondering why her mom and dad were so upset.

"Well, he was a year and a half old and he got really sick. So mommy and daddy took him to the hospital…"

"Like where he was born?" Karah cut in.

"Yes, Karah. Like where he was born. Now let mommy finish her story, please?" Lucas answered.

"Well, we took him to the hospital and they told us that he had a disease." Brooke explained.

"What kind of disease?" Brenna asked.

"It's called cancer. And it's a really bad disease, because you can't just take medicine for it. He had cancer for about seven months when his body decided that it couldn't fight it anymore." Brooke said.

"So he died?" Karah said, tearing up.

"Yeah, honey. He did." Lucas said, picking up Karah and giving her a hug.

"You don't need to be sad, girls. He wouldn't want you to be sad for him." Brooke said. Brenna just sat motionless in front of the grave.

"Who was he?" Brenna asked.

"Well, you know how you guys are twins, because Mommy had two babies at once?" Brooke asked. Karah and Brenna both nodded their heads.

"Well, there's this thing called triplets where Mommies have three baby's at once." Lucas said. The girls were having a hard time putting two and two together, so Brooke took it a step farther.

"You two are really triplets. Andrew was your brother."

Read and Review!


	3. Real Cheese

Disclaimer: Too bad I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did though…man. It'd be heaven.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I love you all and it's great motivation to keep writing!

It had been a week since Brooke and Lucas had told Karah and Brenna about Andrew. For the most part, the girls took it well. They asked a lot of questions, which weren't easy for their parents to answer. Some they didn't even know the answers to.

"Girls! Come downstairs for breakfast!" Brooke yelled up the stairs. Soon enough, the two Karah bounded down the stairs, closely followed by her sister. They sat as a family over a meal of Belgian waffles.

"Karah, what do you want on your waffle?" Lucas asked, placing a freshly baked waffle in front of the little girl.

"Strawberries and cool whip!" She giggled, clapping her small hands together.

"Brenna, how about you?" Brooke asked, even though she knew the answer. Brenna had a mind of her own when it came to breakfast. She took her time to carefully put one chocolate chip in every divot of the waffle, then requested that they be melted in the microwave. She would fold the waffle in half: the result? A chocolate waffle sandwich.

"Chocolate chips, please." She gave a toothy grin, showing off a set of dimples that matched her mother's exactly. Brooke set the bag of chocolate chips in front of her.

"We're going over to Grandma Karen's house today." Brooke said.

"Okay!" Brenna agreed, heartily. Karah, on the other hand, wasn't so happy.

"Mommy, I don't want to go to Grandma's house." She pouted.

"Why not, sweetheart?" Brooke asked, taking a bit of her waffle.

"Last time she made me eat real cheese." Karah sighed, putting an emphasis on the word, 'real'.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucas asked, confused. Brooke was laughing.

"I have to agree with her. Karen's real cheese isn't the best." She sided with her daughter.

"Real cheese as opposed to what?" Lucas eyed his wife.

"You know, real cheese. Not the Kraft Singles kind that are probably milk and powder. She means the kind of cheese that comes like, straight from a goat. The stuff that smells like foot and tastes even worse." Brooke explained. Karah and Brenna giggled, thrilled that their mother understood their hate for their grandmother's cheese.

"Do we have to go?" Karah asked again.

"Yes, sweetie." Brooke said.

"Aunt Haley and Uncle Nathan will be there." Lucas said.

"Really?" Karah and Brenna said in unison.

"Yep. And I'm sure Evelyn and baby Eli will be there too." Brooke said, referring to Haley and Nathan's four year old daughter and six month old son.

"Yeah!" Brenna screeched. If she had a best friend other that her hippo, it was Evie.

"So you'll come?" Brooke smiled.

"Yes." Karah said.

The four loaded into the car and drove to Karen's house. She still lived in the same house that Lucas had grown up in. It was about a forty minute drive from their house on the Atlantic Coastline, but well worth the drive.

As soon as they arrived, the girls were unbuckled from their car seats. Karah jumped out of the car and ran to ring the doorbell. Karen answered and was nearly mauled by her two grandchildren.

"Hi Karah! Hi Brenna!" She said, squatting down and giving the two girls a big hug. She let them go and the two scampered into the house. She gave Brooke a hug and then Lucas.

"How are things going with you two?" Karen asked, letting them inside. They all sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Haley and Nathan to get there.

"Alright. Brenna asked about Andrew the other day." Karen winced as Brooke said this. Andrew had always been a hard subject with anyone close to the couple.

"So they know now?" Karen asked, getting up to pour herself a cup of tea.

"Yeah, they do. I'm not sure how well they understand though." Brooke said.

"Well, they're little. Would you guys like some tea?" She asked.

"I'll have some." Brooke said.

"Lucas, how about you?" Karen asked.

"No thanks ma. I'm good." He replied. Just then, Karah came bounding in the room.

"Grandma, do you have Aladdin?" She asked.

"I do, sweetheart. It's in the movie cupboard." Karen answered.

"Daddy, will you help me get it?" Karah batted her eyelashes at her father. Lucas stood up and Karah took his hand, dragging him off toward the television.

"Her and her Disney." Karen shook her head.

"Yeah, she's a little crazy." Brooke said as Karen handed her a cup of tea.

"They're good little girls though." Karen said.

The doorbell rang, and Brenna nearly took out half the room as she sprinted to get to it first.

"Hey Brenna!" Nathan said as he picked her up and gave her a big hug. Evelyn ran over to Karen and Brooke, giving the two of them hugs. Lucas emerged with Karah, just in time to see Haley walk in with little Eli in her arms.

"Hey Hales." Lucas said, taking the baby from her. "Hey little man."

"Guess what Uncle Nathan?" Karah said, running up to him.

"What Karah?" He asked, putting Brenna down.

"You have to guess, silly." Karah said. Evelyn came to join the other two girls.

"Your going to live in Timbuktu?" Nathan asked.

"No, silly." Karah laughed.

"Darn. Your parents are getting you a pony?" Nathan guessed again.

"Really!" Karah asked, forgetting that this was her game.

"I give up." Nathan laughed.

"I get a bunny rabbit." Karah said, extremely proud of herself.

"Umm, excuse me Missy. Says who?" Brooke cut in.

"Says Daddy." Karah smiled. Brooke looked over at Lucas, who had an extremely guilty smile plastered on her face.

"I kind of bribed her into cleaning her room…" Lucas said. Brooke laughed.

"We'll see about a bunny for you two." Brooke said, rolling her eyes at Lucas.

"Why don't you three go watch Aladdin." Karen proposed, ushering the children off to the other room.

"A rabbit, Lucas? You couldn't have said, 'I'll give you a quarter'?" Brooke questioned.

"Sorry, but she wouldn't do it for anything less than a rabbit." Lucas shook his head.

"Well, now we're going to have two little girls begging for a bunny, and you are going to be the one to deal with that." Brooke said, poking him in the chest.

"Me?" Lucas asked.

"Yes you. I didn't tell the girls that they could get a rabbit." Brooke said.

"You two." Haley shook her head, taking Eli back from Lucas, as he was beginning to get fussy.

"Are you making fun of us?" Brooke asked, laughing.

"I just might be." Haley said, rocking Eli back and forth.

"It's a love hate relationship." Lucas said, smacking Brooke on the butt as she walked away.

"Trust me, it's obvious." Nathan said.

"Well, are you guys hungry for lunch at all?" Karen asked, walking back into the room.

"Oh, no. We had a late breakfast." Brooke said.

"I don't really feel like anything either." Haley said. Nathan and Lucas agreed, shaking their heads.

"Well, I'm going to make myself a sandwich if you don't mind." Karen said, walking towards the kitchen.

"Oh no, go right ahead." Lucas said.

Just then, the high pitched shrieks of three four year old girls could be heard coming from the other room.

"What on earth…" Nathan said, walking towards the room. The other three adults followed him. They found the three girls huddled in the corner, opposite a spider that was probably about the size of Lucas' thumb.

"Daddy, kill it!" Brenna cried, pressing herself further into the corner.

Lucas ran to the bathroom and grabbed a wad of toilet paper. In all of about three seconds, the spider that had caused such a racket was gone.

"All better." Brooke said, leaving the girls to watch Aladdin.

The four adults joined Karen on the couches in the living room.

"So, is anything new with you guys?" Karen asked, starting up a conversation.

"Well, the girls start preschool next month." Lucas said.

"As does Evie." Haley said.

"I can't believe it. They grew up so fast." Brooke said. She thought about what her life should be like, with a little boy. She often dreamt about how their family's life would have been if Andrew were still around. Lucas would take him to play basketball every Saturday, and when they got into high school, Brenna and Karah could both be co-captains of the cheerleading team, cheering their brother, star of the basketball team, on to victory. The thought of it brought tears to her eyes.

"Thinking about him?" Haley asked, grabbing Brooke's hand. She didn't dare say the name out loud, for fear that she wouldn't be able to keep her composure. And it didn't make it any easier on Brooke or Lucas to be upset. She couldn't even imagine the pain of losing a child.

Brooke simply nodded her head. Lucas put a protective arm around her, kissing her softly on her forehead.

"Sometimes I just wonder if it will ever get any easier." Brooke said, fighting to hold her tears back. No one spoke, because no one had the answer. It was probably no, but no one had the courage to tell Brooke that.

"We're all here for you." Nathan said, patting her on the back. Brooke nodded and wiped her tears away, quickly changing the subject to something more pleasant.

"Should we tell them?" Lucas whispered into Brooke's ear. Brooke's smile returned to her face once again, dimples showing and all.

"Yeah." She said.

"Well, we've got some news." Lucas said.

Brooke grabbed his hand for reassurance.

"I'm pregnant again."

Read and Review!


	4. Authors Note PLEASE READ!

Hi! I just wanted to thank everybody who has reviewed my story.

I just started writing fanfiction like, a few days ago.

Lips of an Angel is my other fic, so yeah.

I also wanted to get it out there that this is based on a true story.

One of my good friends and her twin brother were triplets, until their sister chocked to death when she was two years old.

So it's kind of like, in memory of them…? I guess.

But yess, much love to all my reviewers.

Also, I won't be able to update so soon anymore, as school starts the day after tomorrow. 

I'm going to be a 10th grader!

Eww.


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